You are Invited to an introductory talk about Seomra Spraoi this Sunday (7th) at 1pm, followed by dinner at 3pm. This will be a chance to find out more about how Seomra Sproai is run, the politics of the centre and how to particapate in the project. At 1pm there’ll be an introductory talk and questions and answers session and then a chance for further discussion over lunch.

Find out more about Seomra Spraoi with an introductory talk on the politics of social centres as well as the ins and outs of organising a grass-roots independent project. There’ll also be a chance to find out more about how to get invovled in Seomra Spraoi, use the space, organise an event or particpate in any other way.

After the discussion there’ll be a chance to chat further over dinner at Seomra’s weekly Sunday Vegan Cafe.

The contemporary Euro-American LGBT movement emerged out of the gay and lesbian liberation struggles associated with the radical politics of the 1960s, which in turn were inspired by mass revolutionary movements prominent at the turn of the twentieth century. Yet today the majority of men and women active in LGBT politics seek not revolutionary social change but inclusion within the boundaries of mainstream liberal culture. They tend to organise as a single-issue interest group seeking legislative reforms (for example, amendments to marriage laws), and unlike their forebears pose no radical challenges to either capitalism or the state.

In this workshop, sponsored jointly by Queer Spraoi, RAG, and Seomra Spraoi, we will explore the controversial question of whether contemporary queer politics can and ought to pursue a more ambitious political agenda. If so, what form might such a politics take, and how would it relate to its more conservative cousin?

Open meeting for cinema group at 6:30pm. Screening at 7:30pm (â€˜Do The Right Thingâ€™).

Open Meeting for Cinema Group

There will be an open meeting for people to join the cinema group this Sunday at 6:30pm. Anyone interested in showing films or in possession of good films that could be shown are welcome. Looking to recruit members for group. (Group generally shows films on Sunday evenings and sometimes helps others to show films at other times during week.)

â€˜Do The Right Thingâ€™, Spike Lee, 7:30pm

Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American ensemble film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. The film deals with issues of racial conflict in the multi-ethnic community of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, during the hottest day of the summer. Director Lee also stars in the film, alongside Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, and John Turturro. The film is also notable in that it marks the feature film debuts of both Martin Lawrence and Rosie Perez.

Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews and was met with much controversy, as many critics felt the film might incite riots from African-American viewers. Still, the film was a success at the box office, and received numerous accolades and awards. The film has grown in stature over time; in 1999, it was deemed â€œculturally significantâ€ by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry, one of five films to do so in its first year of eligibility. In 2007, the American Film Institute listed the film as the ninety-sixth greatest American Movie in Film History.

4â€“10pm, Saor Ceol is a Music event, but it’s unlike many other events of its nature because the lineup is undecided, the songs are all improvised, the participation is completely open to the public. Suggested Donation â‚¬5, more if you can afford it, less if you can’t.

This June I invite you to come along to the seomra Spraoi for Saor Ceol an open jam! No matter what instrument you play, no matter how well, you’re completely welcome to plug in and play with fellow musicians. If you don’t play anything just sit back on one of the couches and listen!

All we ask is a suggested donation of â‚¬5, more if you can afford it, less if you can’t. (Money goes to the rent and upkeep of Seomra Spraoi.)

Amps, P.A. & drumkit will be provided, and there will be guitars, basses, mics and other instruments â€” but if possible bring along your own, especally if you play something unusual.
So come along and experience a musical treat truly unique and listen to the best of Irish musicians all playing together!

Growing Food Building Communities

Food Fight!

Food Fight! is a monthly food/politics info night & cafe at Seomra Spraoi. Take some generous lashings of sustainable food, whizz it up with flavoursome talks, films & presentations and you’re in for a tasty treat. It’s for anyone passionate about food & changing the worldâ€¦

The South Circular Road Food Garden Project: Dublin

The South Circular Road Food Garden Project began in April 2007 when a collective from the recently evicted Dolphins Barn Garden (2005â€“2006) decided to continue the project on a new site. They have a derelict site, once a car park on loan from ST Salvage Company that they have converted into a community food garden. Seoidin will talk about the history of the project and bring people up to date on community and educational initiatives that they are currently involved in.

The Eglantine Community Garden (The Anarchist Plot): Belfast

The Eglantine Community Garden has achieved lots of things in its 5 year lifetime. It has provided a community space for people who would have been strangers to become neighbours. It has been a training ground for community organisers and community gardeners. It’s a wildlife space, and things can get pretty wild on friday nights. Islamophobes have been seen out gathering up rubbish with the objects of their fear. We met a 97 year old local resident and started a local history project.

Where does the food come in? To be honest, it hasn’t featured highly to date. The idea of community food production has attracted a lot of people to the site, but the production is not what you might call intensive. But from this month 8 people have their own plots, and are learning to grow with the help of gardening workshops. And some of us are starting to look a bit more closely at food production methods. Working on and using the site has embedded it in people’s hearts, and protected it for the future. In the future perhaps it will significantly contribute to the diet of the local population.

Seoidin is an initiator and current participant in The South Circular Road Community Garden. She is an artist based in Dublin currently working on two collaborative art projects. TRESPASS, a film, photo and research based project that looks at wasteland sites around the city and TACTIC a project that works between South Africa and Dublin working with artists and activists.

Miriam is a classy cook, educator, activist, and initiator of the Eglantine Community Garden.TACTIC”

Screening at 5pm, Radiant City is a National Film Board of Canada film released in 2006 at the Toronto Film Festival, about suburban sprawl and the fictional Moss family who live in the suburbs.

The film consists of two components. One tells of the five member Moss family who have just moved from the city into a brand new suburban development. The narrative is set in the Evergreen suburb of Calgary, Alberta. The family discuss and portray life in the suburbs, and the various flaws and advantages of modern suburban life, with a considerably greater emphasis on the flaws. While the characters and instances in the movie are fictional, the actors that play them all do live in real suburban areas.

Interspersed with this narrative, experts speak to the camera about their views of the suburbs. These include Joseph Heath, Mark Kingwell, James Howard Kunstler, and Beverly Sandalack. These portions are filmed in different suburban areas of North America, including Oakville, Ontario.

Soupstone Kindergarten is holding a Belated Bealtaine gardening festival for kids, parents and everyone else on Sunday, May 10th from 3 to 6 pm. There’ll be kids’ gardening, face painting and an afternoon cafe. All very much welcome (donations gratefully accepted!)

About Soupstone Kindergarten

Soupstone is a new Waldorf project opening in Dublin city centre; we will provide morning childcare for children from 3 to 6.

It is a place where children can be children, free of academic pressure, the pressure to consume and gender-stereotyping. Each day has a simple rhythm focussed on practical activities like baking, painting, story-telling or gardening, and each child develops their own relationship to this. In a Waldorf kindergarten, children come to develop their own personality more, learn to appreciate their own experience and meet each other with kindness.

Soupstone is a self-organised project run by a group of parents and teachers for our own children. We have different religions and none, come from different countries and speak different languages. Everyone involved has different needs and constraints, but we all try to contribute what we can personally, be that time, money, energy or administrative help. Parents are very much involved in Waldorf kindergartens â€” we have literally built Soupstone ourselves!

Back in 2003/2004, Darren from (then) Direct Action Against Apathy/(now) Seomra Spraoi spent several months roaming Europe visiting social centres, talking about social centres & making some films from the results. The films are from Belfast, Leeds, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, & Nottingham. By sharing the experiences of other social centres and seeing their practical examples hopefully these films will help inspire people in Ireland.

The â€˜premiereâ€™ of these films was the first ever Seomra Spraoi event back in 2004, for those who weren’t around and those who can’t remember, here’s a chance to see the films. There will be some time after the screenings for discussion, film maker shall be in attendance in the screening to field awkward questionsâ€¦

Squatted social centre on the outskirts of Barcelona, bringing ideas, skills & technology from the countryside into the city. Sunshine, community gardening, fancy d.i.y. plumbing, & experiments in communal living. Canmasdeu is the squat your grandmother would love. (28 mins 2004)

Cabbage House

Can Masseu stencil

Cock

Climbing

Group work compose

House

Marigold

Seedlings

Squat symbol

Pedal-powered washing machine

Water tap

Tuesday 12th May 7pm

Three Social Centres in Amsterdam

Does exactly what it says on the tin. A tour of three legalised squats in Amsterdam; the Molli, the Film Academy, & the Binnenpret. Squat actions, children’s theatre & electro-acoustic concerts with musings on the merits & pit-falls of â€˜dealing with the manâ€™. (34 mins 2004)

A quiet stroll through the infamous squatted town in Copenhagen; frozen lakes, wooden cottages & winding paths in the brilliant winter sun followed by a raid from the Danish police. (6 mins 2004)

Sumac Centre

Vegan fries, vegan beer, vegans, & home to veggies the probably the best vegan catering outfit on the planet. The Sumac is a co-operatively owned â€˜Radical environmental community type social centreâ€™ in Nottingham. Some vegetables were cooked in the making of this film. (18 mins 2004)